All posts tagged airlines

The problem’s a familiar one for many business travelers: too little time to check in before heading to the airport. Then once getting there, lines are long, boarding time runs short, and only the middle seat is left. Flying to the rescue is the app Passnfly, developed by a startup company in Barcelona.

The app is still fresh from its February launch, with only around 300 users from companies such as Bayer AG, T-Systems and FedEx Corp. But the 29-year-old German founder, Louis Tag, has big plans. He wants to attract 65,000 users, make the app profitable, and reach around €1 million ($1.28 million) in sales this year.

The app works with relative simplicity. Once registered, Passnfly will scan a user’s email inbox looking for incoming travel confirmations. As soon as it locates a travel confirmation, the app will check in passengers automatically, giving people the best chance to get the seat they want. Once checked in, Passnfly sends users a PDF file to print, and a barcode.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s largest airline, wants to use your data to make your flight more personal.

Speaking on stage at the Digital Life Design Conference in Munich, Lufthansa CEO Christoph Franz said he wanted to see a future where flight attendants could tell economy passengers that they have already uncorked their favorite bottle of red as they come aboard. It’s a service they already offer to first-class passengers, but in order to do that and other small things for the comfort of their economy travelers, they’d need those flyers to surrender their data.

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